There are many different aspects to “diversity”. These can include race,
national origin, politics, views on same-sex marriage, and religion – among others.
While everyone is entitled to their own opinion – and I have mine – that does
not mean that we need to let these aspects separate us. I love my family members,
and appreciate my friends. I’d like to document just a few of the many types of
diversity among them.
Fighting on opposite sides –
My great*5 grandfather, John Russell (1756-1833), was a member of the NY
Volunteers and a soldier in the Revolutionary War (*1). At the same time, my
wife’s great*5 grandfather, Ruloffe VanDerKar was a member of Jessup’s Raiders
and on the side of the British (*2). After the Americans won, Ruloffe fled to
Canada where the VanDeCar family resided until the 1850s.
Religion – While most of my ancestors
were protestants, my paternal grandmother, Vera [Levy] [Russell] Rogers, was
raised in a Jewish household as her father, Maurice Levy (1870-1910), was the
son of a Jewish immigrant who came to the US in 1851 (*3). Following the death
of her father, her mother returned to her protestant roots, but my grandmother
became a Christian Scientist.
In addition, some of the exchange students who lived with us were, and
still are, of other religions. Our “daughter,” Noon from Thailand, like most
people from that country, is Buddhist. And Adi from Indonesia is a practicing
Catholic. Another friend here locally is a Muslim.
National Origin – My DNA gives
some idea of the rather mixed ancestry that I have (*4). The primary
ethnicities are Ireland/Scotland/Wales (22%), European Jewish (20%), Great
Britain (19%), Europe West (14%), and Scandinavia (14%). My wife’s DNA is
similarly quite varied (*5), being Europe West (44%), Great Britain (30%), and
Europe East (17%). And there is another set of lesser percentage regions for
each of us.
Race – While both my wife
and I do not have any “mixed race” among our direct ancestors (at least for the
last 1000 years), there are non-Caucasians among my family and friends. My wife’s
brother married a Native American from the LTBB (Little Traverse Bay Band) of
the Odawa tribe. While my sister-in-law has passed on, we have three nephews/nieces
who are active in that tribe and I enjoy the perspective that I get from them.
I’ve already mentioned my hosted daughter from Thailand and another
exchange student from Indonesia. I’ve visited Noon on three separate occasions
over the years and stayed with her and her family on two of those visits (*6).
I also have several other friends, primarily from my years in working with
exchange students but also others, who have Asian heritage.
My other hosted daughter, Shirley, is from Ghana. I’ve also been
privileged to spend a week+ with her and her family (*7). While Shirley is
African and not African-American, one of my nieces just married an African-American
earlier this summer and I hope to have the chance to meet him some day.
Sexuality – While the
religion that I am a part of does not support same-sex couples, that does not
mean that I condemn those who have different views. I had a close relationship
while growing up with a cousin who was “gay” (the term in use at the time), and
I currently have three nieces (on both my side and my wife’s side of the
family) who are in same-sex relationships, two of whom are now married (*8). I
still love these nieces just as I do any other of my relatives.
Politics – There are certain
a non-trivial number of individuals in the US (and on both sides of the
political spectrum) who take their political views to the extreme. And among my
family and friends there are certainly several different views represented. But
as long as they are willing to have a civil discourse with me, then I will
continue to try and relate to them and to learn from their viewpoint.
Conclusion
Each of us is a unique individual with many different characteristics.
Some of these we cannot change – for example I am a 70-year old individual (in
a couple of days) who has XY chromosomes. Others are much more complicated –
like the varied heritage that my DNA gives testament to. And others can change
over time – I do not follow the same religious tenets that I grew up with.
I do not claim to be able to totally understand what others may
experience because of the set of characteristics that they have. I don’t know
what it’s like to be female, to be a Native American, to be Buddhist, or even
to be single instead of married.
But none of these different characteristics are things that we should
discriminate based upon. My many family members each have a different set of
characteristics than I do. And my friends are even more diverse than those who
are connected to me by various family relationships.
None of us is perfect. Whether we label those imperfections as “sin” or
just things that we do wrong, we each need forgiveness for those imperfections
and how they affect our relationships with God and with each other.
But we are all members of this collection of individuals that we
sometimes label as the “human race”. We are related to other members of this
collection – sometimes by marriage or biological descent (and we call each other
“family”), and sometimes by other means (and we call each other “friend”). I
have a large number of individuals both whom I am proud to call “family” or
whom I am proud to call “friend”. None of them are the same as me – and for
that I am also grateful. But I celebrate the diversity of them and I am richer
because of it.
Notes:
*7 – http://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2015/06/ghana-experience-part-1-preparation.html
(and following parts of the series)
*8 – http://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2016/05/gender-and-sex-part-4-how-do-i-feel.html
(another multi-part series that you might find interesting)
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